Why Your Financial Advisor is Probably Not Your Friend

Who to Trust & What to Avoid in
Learning About Money Management

The importance of money is impressed upon most Americans as soon as we’re old enough to buy candy. But the importance of money management is an entirely different story, says self-made millionaire Mike Finley.

“Think about all that we do to prepare children for the world; we fill them up with things we think are most important for doing well as adults and spend tens of thousands of dollars for higher education, but they never take a class on how to manage personal finances,” says Finley, author of “Financial Happine$$,” (www.thecrazymaninthepinkwig.com), which discusses his journey to financial literacy and applying the principles that allowed him to retire from the Army a wealthy man.

“Our culture celebrates privacy and self determination, which is why, I think, we don’t want to tell students how they should spend their money, but I think young people are hungry for guidance.”

Seventy-six percent of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, according to a recent CashNetUSA survey. That percentage varies with other studies; however, the percentage never dips below at least 50 percent of Americans who have very little in savings, says Finley, whose voluntary night class on financial literacy at the University of Northern Iowa is always packed beyond capacity.

Finley identifies your best allies — and the voices that do not have your best interests at heart – when it comes to money management:

Do trust:

• Your No. 1 advocate – you: “It’s not simply how much money you make, it’s what you do with it,” Finley says. The best thing you can do right now is to educate yourself so you can make sound financial decisions. A great start is to embrace the concept of paying yourself: Put away at least 20 percent of your income for your future, which requires a lifestyle of living below your means.

• Real teachers — Most people want something from you, but some truly want to give. Finley, who regularly volunteers instructional time to veterans, current military personnel and youth, says to identify the people you can trust, who sincerely want to educate you. Look for classes at local colleges; workshops sponsored by nonprofit organizations, and even websites geared to improving your money decisions, including SaveandInvest.org, MrMoneyMustache.com and JaneBryantQuinn.com.

Beware:

• Most financial advisors — If you want to learn about a car you’re thinking about buying, would you go to the car salesman trying to earn commission or an objective third party? A salesman wants your money, but Consumer Reports, for example, has to earn the public’s trust with objective, reliable information. Most financial advisors, especially those employed by massive, nationwide firms, are trying to sell prepackaged financial products. Independent advisors are a better option, but if you’re financially illiterate, it can be hard to determine whether or not they have your best interests at heart.

• Advertisements — Advertisers are not just selling products – they’re trying to sell happiness. What do you see in commercials for iPads and tablets? You see young, exuberant, smart-looking and stylish people. Nearly from the cradle, we’re exposed to advertising messages that promise we’ll be happier, better people if we purchase the products and services advertised. But an iPad won’t make you more exuberant or stylish. Learn to view advertising messages with a discriminating eye so that you purchase what you truly need – not what they tell you to need.

About Mike Finley

Like most Americans, Mike Finley was raised with no education in personal finances. Joining the Army out of high school, he realized he didn’t understand money and began the task of educating himself. After 26 years in the service, while practicing the money management principles he learned, he retired a millionaire. Finley is the author of “Financial Happine$$,” (www.thecrazymaninthepinkwig.com) and teaches a popular financial literacy class at the University of Northern Iowa. He donates much of his time to additional groups, including Junior Achievement of Eastern Iowa and organizations serving veterans and current military personnel.

 

How to Overcome Stage Fright in Your Life

Award-Winning Director Shares Tips
for the Actor in All of Us

More confidence, less stress, discovering inner resources, improving relationships – there are thousands of self-help books to help us accomplish these, but do they work?

“Self-help strategies can work, as far as they go, but they don’t address a key component that affects everything from how we feel about ourselves to how successfully we interact with others,” says award-winning film director, producer and writer Dr. Richard R. Reichel.

“That key component is the fact that we’re all actors — at work, school, home, even alone in front of the bathroom mirror. We’re always playing the character of ‘Me,’ but we also have to play other characters. The better we are at it, the happier and more successful we’ll be.”

But just like anyone who steps before an audience, sometimes we’re paralyzed by stage fright, says Reichel, author of the new book, “Everybody is an Actor,” (www.everybodyisanactor.com), a guide to achieving success in the film industry and in life.

“Stage fright undermines concentration and we lose our character objective,” he says. “Why do so many people cower in light of their dreams? Why do they procrastinate on getting their degree? Why do they tremble at the thought of approaching Mr. or Ms. Right? It’s because of stage fright.”

To overcome it, Reichel offers these tips from the Psychophantic System he developed to mold both life and film actors:

• Control stress with a “mind walk” and “confocal contemplation.” Today, stress is associated with a variety of chronic illnesses. In addition to regular exercise and sleep nourishment, consider a “mind walk,” or a pleasant thought that stops the stress and replaces it with something positive. In the same vein, practice “confocal contemplation” by allowing your mind to wander into a cloudlet of peace and relaxing your body. Then, while thoughts are peacefully drifting, flex your feet, ankles, calves, shins, knees, buttocks and hips – and release. Feel the weight of your entire body while your mind remains free, and repeat the exercise.

• Practice projecting your emotions. How many times have you daydreamed about how you will express yourself when a particular situation arises? In the same way, we need to rehearse how we project our emotions in social situations. Try practicing emotional expression in front of a trusted friend or loved one. If someone has made you happy and joyous, rehearse how to show them in the moment. Showing love and laughter can strengthen bonds, and learning how to express anger, sorrow and fear in appropriate ways will improve your ability to communicate and foster understanding.

• Winning your audience by emphasizing character strengths. No one is good at everything, but everyone is good at something. In order to get what you want in life, you simply need to do what you’re good at. Your audience may be an employer, coworkers, family or a potential date. Can you make them laugh, understand or otherwise feel deeply what you’re expressing? Appealing to their emotional responses can go far. Keep in mind the hearts and minds of your audience, including the setting and what they must be experiencing during the “performance.” Be aware of your vocal projection and body language. You will be remembered for your performance, which will lead you to better roles and, in the case of daily living, better relationships.

About Dr. Richard R. Reichel

Dr. Richard R. Reichel has a long and varied experience in the film and TV industries, from actor and director to casting and cameraman. He holds multiple degrees, including one in film production and a doctorate in counseling psychology. Reichel, the author of “Everybody is an Actor,” (www.everybodyisanactor.com), was the first to produce a TV program about Asian cultures in America, and the first to present a TV show about all aspects of organic living. He is credited with persuading film star Jackie Chan to come to the U.S. to make movies. Dr. Reichel created an innovative and comprehensive acting system that immerses participants in the culture of film production while helping them actually become the character with impressive time efficiency. His system is also excellent for those who would like to have superior confidence and be more dynamic and assertive at work, social situations, school or even at home.

 

28 Senators Will Stay Up All Night Monday To Talk About Climate Change

WASHINGTON — A group of 28 senators will take over the Senate floor on Monday evening for an all-night talk-a-thon on climate change.

The senators plan to start their climate-fest on Monday, March 10, after the last votes, and continue until around 9 a.m. on Tuesday. The senators are part of the Climate Action Task Force, which waslaunched in January.

The event, said Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), is meant “to show the growing number of senators who are committed to working together to confront climate change.”

The number of participating senators has grown since the event was first announced several weeks ago. Now they’re up to 26 Democrats and two independents. The senators are also planning to tweet the event using the hashtag #Up4Climate.

The following senators are participating: Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Patty Murray, (D-Wash.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Barbara Boxer, (D-Calif.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Mark Udall (D-Colo.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Angus King (I-Maine), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.).

The Huffington Post will be covering the event live on Monday night.

 

4 Ways to Come Up with Brilliant Ideas When the Pressure’s On

National Ideas Month Shines a Light on Creativity

March is National Ideas Month.  Hey, whose bright idea was that?

Here’s an intriguing idea from New York Times best-selling author and writing coach Michael Levin,: “Creativity is a muscle; use it or lose it.”

Levin, whose new Books Are My Babies YouTube channel (www.BooksAreMyBabies.com) offers 160-plus free tutorials for writers, says anyone can grow their creativity, just like any other muscle.

“I define creativity as ‘the ability to develop great ideas while under pressure,’ ” he says. “Pressure creates diamonds, so why shouldn’t it also create great ideas?”

But sometimes, pressure paralyzes creativity.

“I’ve experienced it when writing under deadline pressure and writing under the pressure of my own high expectations,” Levin says. “Over time, I’ve developed several tricks to stimulate my creative muscle and help me come up with great ideas for whatever challenge I face – whether it’s writing or figuring out how to arrange a busy family weekend schedule so that everyone’s needs are met.”

Here are four of Levin’s no-fail tips for generating creative ideas under pressure:

1. Ask yourself, “What’s the most dangerous, expensive and illegal way to solve this problem?”  We usually take the same approach to solving problems every time with the resources we have at hand. “This doesn’t exactly translate into breathtaking creativity,” Levin says.  So imagine that you have no limits — legal, moral, financial, whatever. You can do literally anything to solve the problem. The way-out ideas you develop may not be practical, but they’ll lead you to new ways of thinking about your problem. And then you can find a non-life-threatening, legal way to solve it!

2.  Hide.  We live in a world of constant, thin-sliced demands. Unanswered texts and emails. People waiting for you to say something, do something, read something, decide something. Run and hide. Lock yourself in your car or hunker down in a bathroom stall. Slow down and get your brain back.

It’s all but impossible for your creative brain to operate when you’re responding to endless external stimuli. The best ideas often come when you run from your responsibilities.

3. Count to 20. Go somewhere where you can be undisturbed, bring a yellow pad and a pen, turn off your phone, and sit there until you come up with 20 ideas for solving your problem. This requires discipline, because most of us are so happy when we have one answer to a problem that we want to move to the next agenda item. Not every idea you invent will be a great one, but that’s okay.  It may be idea number 17 that’s truly brilliant, but you’d never get there if you ran back to your desk after you came up with one, two or even five ideas. If you do this daily, you’ll develop 100 new ideas a week. Imagine how strong your idea muscle will be!

4. Give up. Cardiologists recommend to heart patients that they visit nature, go to a museum, or attend a classical concert. Why? It slows them down and allows them to appreciate beauty instead of seeing life as a constant battle.  Surrender your own siege mentality. Life isn’t war, thank goodness. Take a major step away, even for a couple of hours, from whatever battles you’re facing, contemplate the greatness of the human spirit or the wonder of nature, and reawaken the creative energy that our fight-minded world suppresses.

So there you have it, four ways to generate great ideas under pressure. Where’s your next big idea coming from? From your mind at peace, that’s where!

About Michael Levin

New York Times best-selling author Michael Levin runs the “Books Are My Babies” YouTube channel, www.BooksAreMyBabies.com, a free resource of tutorial videos for writers. Levin has written more than 100 books, including eight national best-sellers; five that have been optioned for film or TV by Steven Soderbergh/Paramount, HBO, Disney, ABC, and others; and one that became “Model Behavior,” an ABC Sunday night Disney movie of the week.

 

The Doomsday Cult of Bitcoin

By Kevin Roose

On December 21, 1954, a woman named Dorothy Martin thought the world was going to end. Martin, a Chicago housewife, claimed to have received a message from aliens, warning her of an impending flood that would kill everyone on earth except for true believers, who would be carried away to safety on a flying saucer. For months, Martin had been gathering a band of followers who called themselves the Seekers and quietly prepared for their alien abduction. The Seekers left behind family and friends, sold their possessions, and on December 20, they waited. When midnight came, they waited some more.

When they realized the flying saucer wasn’t going to come, and that Martin’s prophecy had been wrong, something odd happened: Rather than giving up, the Seekers began furiously calling up newspapers and trying to spread their message as widely as possible. In order to overcome the cognitive dissonance of their situation and convince themselves their sacrifices had been worthwhile, they needed to proselytize.

This is, we now know, a psychologically normal response for prophetic groups whose central predictions fail to come true. And today, you can see something similar going on with another group of failing zealots. I’m talking about the cult of Bitcoin.

For months now, Bitcoin soothsayers have proclaimed that the virtual currency is going to Change Everything. The mass adoption of Bitcoin, theytold us, would utterly transform the way the world stores and exchanges value. Government-backed currency would become obsolete. Farmers in Kenya would use the same Bitcoin-based payment systems as cafés in the Mission. With the future of money in the hands of Satoshi Nakamoto’s brilliant protocol, inexact central planning would be replaced by algorithmic decentralization.

Of course, none of that has happened. And it’s exceedingly likely that none of it will.

You’ve probably heard about the bankruptcy of Mt. Gox, a former Magic: The Gathering card exchange that morphed into Bitcoin’s largest trading floor before being wiped out by a nearly $500 million heist. But even before that, new knocks to Bitcoin were coming fast and furious: the arrest of Bitcoin prodigy Charlie Shrem; the consolidation of Bitcoin mining operations in a way that threatened to undermine the rules of the currency itself; the successive (and utterly predictable) shutdowns of Silk Road and Utopia. Today, another nail hit the coffin courtesy of Flexcoin, a so-called “Bitcoin bank” that announced that all its users’ accounts had simply vanished.

These may seem like isolated incidents, but together, they add up to a massive, damning breach of trust. I don’t doubt, as Nobel laureate Robert Shiller put it last week, that “something good can arise from [Bitcoin's] innovations.” But Bitcoin itself will never recover from these initial pratfalls. Partly this is because lawmakers and regulators, spooked by early hype and the Mt. Gox disaster, are never going to afford Bitcoin services the kind of autonomy they’d need in order to flourish. Partly it’s because there are conceptual problems with the Bitcoin architecture itself. And partly it’s because Bitcoin’s anarchic roots are too fringe to draw in the masses. In the mind of the average American, the currency is now synonymous with theft, drugs, and techno-wizardry. These impressions do not a global currency make.

As Bitcoin stumbles, the community growing up around it has only become more fervent. Their beliefs are barely falsifiable. Their leaders give lengthy sermons and call fellow adherents “brothers.” It has never been enough for this group to have supported the rise of a nifty new experimental currency – what they want, and what they believe is coming, is the dawn of an entirely new age.

You can find many of the loonier Bitcoin proclamations on the r/bitcoin subreddit. (One recent call-to-arms, written by Bitcoin entrepreneur Erik Voorhees, included lines like “We are building a new financial order, and those of us building it, investing in it, and growing it, will pay the price of bringing it to the world.”) But they appear in more mainstream places as well. Investor Marc Andreessen’s Bitcoin manifesto (in which he said that “the consequences of [Bitcoin] are hard to overstate”) appeared on the New YorkTimes‘s DealBook. Bitcoin Investment Trust founder Barry Silbert
is quoted in places like The Wall Street Journal extolling the virtues of the virtual currency. (“2014 will be the year of bitcoin on Wall Street,” he said.)

Ask any of these Bitcoin believers about any of the recent incidents, and they will defend the currency with religious fervor. It’s good when black-market drug peddlers and money launderers are taken out of the system, they say, because it makes room for more legitimate Bitcoin operations. Charlie Shrem was a naïf who got ahead of himself. Mt. Gox was taken down by “transaction malleability.” The problem is with the immature Bitcoin architecture, not with Bitcoin itself.

But these are head-fakes, meant to distract from Bitcoin’s disastrous move to the mainstream while consoling believers about the current state of affairs. There are already horror stories from those who have entrusted their life savings to Bitcoin, only to lose most or all of it when an exchange collapsed. Emin Gün Sirer, a computer science professor at Cornell who has studied the crypto-currency, sums up the state of Bitcoin in a way that almost makes you feel sorry for the remaining faithful:

Bitcoin, at the moment, is in a slump, with a community that has become its own parody … The Bitcoin masses, judging by their behavior on forums, have no actual interest in science, technology or even objective reality when it interferes with their market position. They believe that holding a Bitcoin somehow makes them an active participant in a bold new future, even as they passively get fleeced in the bolder current present.

Watching some of my friends and colleagues fall under the Bitcoin spell has been dispiriting. It’s one thing for Andreessen, whose venture-capital firm has millions of dollars invested in Bitcoin projects like Coinbase, to spend his time talking his book. It’s another for right-thinking people to conclude that Bitcoin has some kind of real-world potential, based solely on the wide-eyed, group-think-y opinions of the people around them.

The uncomfortable fact for Bitcoin believers is that every major prediction they’ve made has yet to come true. And as time passes and the inevitable fizzle-out of Bitcoin becomes visible, those believers will splinter. More will drop out of the cult. And the ones who remain will only grow more convinced, more zealous, more eager to share the good news.

After all, the difference between the Seekers’ apocalyptic prediction and the Bitcoin dream is that the latter can self-fulfill. The nature of a speculative commodity like Bitcoin is that it essentially runs on hope – the more people who buy the hype, the higher the value goes, and the more firms like Andreessen Horowitz are willing to pump money into strengthening the Bitcoin ecosystem. Wish for the UFO hard enough, and it might actually arrive.

But the Bitcoin dream is all but dead. Now the true believers are trying to cope with their setbacks by increasing their numbers. And if history is any guide, they’ll keep telling you the bright future of Bitcoin is just ahead, long after they’ve ceased to believe it themselves.

 

How the Little Guys Can Win In Today’s David-and-Goliath Business World

Before the internet, small companies didn’t stand a chance against the Goliaths, says Corrine Sandler, a globally recognized leader in business intelligence and market research.

That’s because no war can be won without intelligence and, before the digital era, collecting actionable data and information about one’s competitors, market and customers cost a lot more than most small businesses – the Davids – could afford.

“But today, the Davids are taking down the Goliaths,” says Sandler, founder and CEO of Fresh Intelligence Research Corp., a global business intelligence company, and author of the new book, “Wake Up or Die” (www.wakeupordie.us), a comprehensive guide to the use of intelligence in the contemporary business environment.

“Thanks to the internet, the boutiques and startups have access to all kinds of free tools for gathering intelligence. They’re also much more agile than the big corporations; they can make a decision and act immediately. That’s essential in a marketplace where conditions change quickly.”

In “Wake Up or Die,” Sandler applies lessons from Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” – the 2,000-year-old military treatise penned by one of the greatest commanders in history – to the modern business economy. Sun Tzu held that the goal in any war is to win without ever entering into physical battle.

“By gathering actionable data and acting on it immediately, by using it to predict next moves and spot opportunities, small businesses can and are taking down the big ones without a drop of blood being shed,” Sandler says.

She offers smaller business owners these tips for acquiring and using intelligence:

• If you lack resources, make use of free or inexpensive intelligence-gathering tools. Visit competitors’ websites and collect data about them. Many businesses put a great deal of revealing information on their sites, which can benefit you. Also, make note of any changes on their sites. Google Alerts can tell you when they’re releasing new products or expanding. Use Google analytics tools such as Google Hot Trends to tell you what’s in the collective consciousness – potential consumer demand – at any given time. Google’s key word tool will give you ideas for powerful key words in search terms, and use the traffic tool to measure global volume on those key words.

• Make intelligence-gathering part of your company’s culture. From the manager who overhears a conversation in the grocery checkout line to the clerk obsessed with Twitter, every employee in your business is a potential intelligence resource. Encourage employees to pay attention as they interact with others outside the company. They may discover a nagging issue that no other company is addressing, allowing you to create uncontested market space. Or, you may learn critical information about a competitor that allows you to seize an advantage. Make intelligence gathering a company lifestyle.

• Appoint a Chief Intelligence Officer (CIO) to coordinate and analyze information from a variety of sources. In smaller companies, leaders tend to rely on pipelines of internal information provided by employees who don’t understand how to use intelligence to make empowering decisions. That can render important data inactionable (unusable or simply not used). A CIO can oversee and coordinate the collection and analysis of intelligence, and brief you – the business leader – daily so that all data is actionable.

“What enables you to make smart, timely decisions is access to precise intelligence,” Sandler says. “Your advantage, as a smaller business, is that you don’t have the corporate processes and protocols that inhibit fast action.

“As Sun Tzu wrote, ‘It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you can win 100 battles without a single loss.’ ”

About Corrine Sandler

Corrine Sandler is the founder and CEO of Fresh Intelligence Research Corp, a global market research agency; international professional speaker and author of  “Wake Up or Die,” (www.wakeupordie.us) a new book that applies lessons from Sun Tzu’s ancient classic, “The Art of War,” to contemporary businesses. Corrine’s company was ranked No. 2 on Profit Magazine’s list of top 50 fastest-growing companies, and Corrine has been on Profit’s top 100 Female Entrepreneurs list two years in a row. With more than 20 years’ experience, she has established a reputation for unparalleled consumer understanding and insight development working with Fortune 500 companies.

 

International Toll Free Numbers: The Answer For Your Business?

Toll free numbers are a very convincing way for your company to generate new business. Because they can breathe new life into a stale marketing campaign, you’ll find that most consumers will stay connected to the actual toll free number on a regular basis. Even today’s tech-savvy world won’t deter how a customer sees a toll free number with close to 70 percent of consumers making over 50 toll free calls per year.
Customer Response

Toll free numbers are leading the way to customer interaction with over 85 percent of consumers responding to a toll free number across the United States. Customer interaction is also high when a company uses a toll free number because they are more apt to reach out to a business and seek assistance. When it comes to product returns, you’ll find a toll free number to be even more beneficial by offering them a free way that they can resolve an issue with a product without having to return an item.

On Trend Advertising

Getting a company recognized in today’s competitive world of busy can be tricky. However, vanity toll free numbers are a popular and effective method of advertising a business. The consumer can attach the actual vanity number when you spell out a product or service such as 1 800-NEW-DOOR. The personalized numbers can increase your company’s recognition by as much as 85 percent.

This can also help when a consumer loses your business card or brochure, and they want to refer your company to a friend or neighbor. Easy recognition also allows them to associate the toll free number with your product or service.

Positive Business Reflection

Customers also associate a phone number with the credibility and quality of a business. A company that strictly uses a generic and local number may get a good share of work. However, a consumer will typically choose a company with a toll free number over that of a local number. These phone identities, like Avoxi international toll free numbers, can also allow your company to advertise worldwide, so your company can grow and flourish.

If you have other employees within the company, you can assign these numbers to the various departments and remote offices. You can also set it to send calls to your smartphone. This allows individuals who travel for business and work from home to stay connected to their customer base and never miss an important call.

Outdated Approach?

With the latest technological advances of smartphones, laptops and tablets, you may see the toll free number as an outdated approach of doing business. However, statistics show the exact opposite. You’ll find that a wide range of consumers today are making these indentity numbers just as popular an option as it was in previous years.

Toll free numbers can help a company grow its consumer base by adding credibility and quality to the product or service that your business offers. They are also far reaching and can expand your businesses productivity and popularity worldwide and cut down on product returns.

Nadine Swayne knows the importance of consumer relations and the ease of interaction. Whether you choose a business phone identity for locals or worldwide outreach by using Avoxi international toll free numbers, communication is one of the most successful keys in commerce.

 

Buying a gun on Facebook takes 15 minutes

February 26, 2014 5:10 PM
by Richard Byrne Reilly

Fifteen minutes.

That’s all it takes for children, felons, and people without IDs to buy illegal weapons on Facebook pages dedicated to the sale and celebration of guns.

A VentureBeat investigation has uncovered dozens of pages on Facebook where guns are for sale, including semi-automatic weapons, handguns, and silencers. While the transactions don’t actually happen on Facebook, the social network is a remarkably easy way to find shady people willing to sell you a weapon — no questions asked. The illegal transactions then take place in diners, dark parking lots, and isolated country roads — away from the prying eyes of the feds and local police.

In Kentucky, Greenup County Sheriff Keith Cooper remembers when a call came into dispatch last October saying a 15-year-old student had been arrested on the Greenup County High School campus for carrying an unlicensed and loaded 9mm handgun to school. The boy was arrested and brought to Cooper’s office for an interview.

When Cooper, a former Kentucky State Trooper with a heavy Southern drawl, asked the kid where he got the gun, his reply was shocking: Facebook.

As it turns out, the 15 year old’s purchase wasn’t an anomaly. Facebook pages have been a thriving market for facilitating gun purchases.

Even in their names, the Facebook fan pages make no attempt to hide what their real purposes are: Firearms Only Alamogordo, Guns for Sale, I Love Guns, and even Guns, Ammo & Blades.

 

The pages have hundreds of thousands of “likes” and members. While many of the sales are no doubt legitimate — federal law governing gun transactions between individuals are fairly lax — hooking up with illicit buyers and sellers via these pages is easy. For instance, you can buy automatic weapons without a permit, guns with their serial numbers filed off, and weapons that may be prohibited by your state’s laws. If you’re under 18, you can buy a handgun, which federal law prohibits.

On Tuesday, a VentureBeat reporter and his colleague spent less than 15 minutes arranging to buy a semiautomatic 7mm rifle and 90 rounds of ammunition from a guy named “Dave,” a member of Facebook “Firearms Only Alamogordo” fan page (left).

VentureBeat made contact through the fan page, and in the ensuing SMS chat, Dave expressed an eagerness to do the deal. The gun was in good condition, he explained.

When a VentureBeat reporter asked Dave if they needed to bring identification to complete the sale, his response was an immediate “no.”

Emerging threats

Numerous interviews with federal law enforcement authorities, city police agencies, and anti-gun advocacy groups show how they view Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms with growing alarm as highly effective and unregulated online arms bazaars where people who shouldn’t be owning — or selling — guns can find a seemingly endless pool of eager customers with no questions asked.

“We look at Facebook and others as emerging threats for unlawful gun transactions in the United States,” a federal law enforcement officer told VentureBeat.

And as the VentureBeat investigation revealed, some of these guns being purchased through Facebook fan pages are ending up on the playgrounds of American schools.

Special Agent Helen Dunkel, with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, called the illegal purchases a fact. Dunkel said, “We are certainly aware social media is being used to sell firearms, and in instances we receive information, whether through confidential informants or other means, we definitely take that seriously and investigate.”

Dunkel said the ATF, which investigates the unlawful use and possession of guns and explosives in the U.S., has multiple ongoing investigations into illegal gun transactions on social media platforms. Citing the ongoing nature of the cases, she declined to specify them. The investigations are being coordinated through the ATF’s office of strategic intelligence in Washington D.C.

ATF spokewoman Ginger Colbrun put it this way:

“We definitely see it occurring, and when we do, we open investigations. [Social media] is a new avenue we’re looking into. We’re definitely taking it seriously.”

A spokesman at FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., declined to comment for this story, referring all questions to the ATF.

Facebook responds

For its part, Facebook prohibits the sale or trade of guns, weapons, and explosives through the site and company spokespeople routinely remind reporters that they work with law enforcement on a case by case basis. A spokesperson said that any time user policy violations occur, they are dealt with. Facebook also likes to remind people that it’s not an e-commerce platform.

Nor is Facebook alone in being used for illegal activity. Sites like Craigslist have also been used in the past to sell weapons, drugs, and sex-for-hire schemes. (Craigslist has responded by banning such content, and by actively enforcing those bans.)

“You can’t buy things on Instagram and Facebook, nor can you promote the sale or use of weapons in advertising,” a Facebook spokesperson told us. “We encourage people who come across any illegal activity to report it to us.”

Oddly, buying and selling firearms on Facebook’s platform has been going on right under Facebook’s nose for far too long to go unnoticed.

In the October 2013 Kentucky case, the boy met the gun seller through a Facebook fan page called Portsmouth Pickers, a page where locals share information on the best fishing holes on the nearby Ohio River, recipes and even trading guns.

Cooper then arrested the seller, a man who drove across the river to sell the gun to the young teen. Because the seller drove across state lines, sold the weapon to a minor and violated federal gun laws,  the case was eventually turned over to the feds who indicted him.

As the case unfolded, investigators subpoenaed the kid’s and seller’s IP logs. They were able to clearly read the Facebook chat logs which led to the illegal sale. During the investigation, Cooper learned something else: The seller had been moving illegal handguns through Facebook channels before.

“Our investigation showed more than just the one 9mm,” the friendly Cooper said during a series of phone interviews.

“In fact, the suspect admitted to me that he was using Facebook to sell weapons. He met this kid, who we determined didn’t bring the gun to school to hurt anybody, through Facebook, and they made the arrangements through the site.”

The sheriff said buying unlicensed guns on Facebook is a good way to do it: no paper trail, no registration. Nothing more than cash and a handshake.

“That’s how I would do it,” the sheriff said of the illegal Facebook gun buy. “If this thing were to show up at a murder scene, it would be near impossible to trace.”

Quite a few offers

The Facebook page “Firearms Only Alamogordo” is a happening place. Members continually post videos of combat shotguns of the kinds Marines used to clear trench lines in World War I, Chinese-made semiautomatic AK-47 assault rifles with 30 round banana clips, and Ruger 9mms. The page is moderated by someone who identifies himself an active member of the U.S. Air Force.

The page has a prominent policy prohibiting the sale of guns to minors.

 

On a recent thread (right), a flame war erupted between a man who met up with someone he thought was an adult, for the purchase of a rifle. When he showed up, he was met by a minor who opened the door to the trunk of his car to reveal a small arsenal of weapons. When the prospective buyer asked the seller where his father was, the kid said he was sick.

Another recent thread, started by a junior high school student, asked members there if anybody would trade him a gun for his 30 gallon freshwater fish tank.

There were quite a few offers.

The Menlo Park, Calif.-based social media giant has been under fire by an activist group of concerned mothers called Moms Demand Action and the powerful Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a powerful advocacy group co-founded by billionaire and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The two groups are demanding that Facebook and Instagram “get out of the gun business.”

A petition on Change.org to prohibit gun sales on Facebook and Instagram has over 75,000 signatures, and was recommended by Sarah Silverman earlier today.

Earlier this week, Bloomberg’s group, with 1,100 U.S. mayors aboard and over a million supporters, threw down the gauntlet.

“Anybody can go to Facebook and Instagram and buy a gun online. We’re asking them to review their policies. They facilitate the sale of guns in the U.S., said Erika Soto Lamb, a spokeswoman for Mayors Against Illegal Guns. They also launched a petition to get Facebook to the negotiating table.

The petition, in part, reads:

Facebook and Instagram are currently being used to facilitate sales and trades of firearms between private sellers. Most of these sales and trades can take place without background checks, meaning that there’s no way to stop a Facebook or Instagram user from potentially selling a gun to a felon, a domestic abuser or another dangerous person who would otherwise be prohibited from obtaining a gun. I think of Facebook and Instagram as places to share photos of my kids & family — not as an online market for guns.

It seems to have worked. Facebook and the advocacy groups are currently in discussions about what they can do to curb illegal gun sales through the Facebook platform.

We’ve not yet heard whether the social network is changing its fundamental policies or how they’re enforced.

But if it does, and it succeeds in shutting down social media gun sales, it will make a lot of people in law enforcement very relieved.

 

The Next Shoe To Drop: Obamacare Will Increase The Cost Of Employer-Sponsored Insurance

by Avik Roy, -

Yesterday, the Obama Administration’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released a six-page report predicting that Obamacare could cause premiums to increase for nearly two-thirds of small- to medium-sized businesses. “This results in roughly 11 million individuals whose premiums are estimated to be higher as a result of the ACA and about 6 million individuals who are estimated to have lower premiums,” CMS writes. But CMS’ projections almost certainly understate the problem, one that will begin to affect millions of workers in the second half of 2014.

CMS: 11 million will see increased premiums

The CMS premium report was a requirement imposed by Congress on the administration under the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act of 2011. That law mandated that CMS “provide an estimate of the number individuals and families who will experience a premium increase and the number who will see a decrease” as a result of the Affordable Care Act.

But CMS only looked at one cost-increasing Obamacare provision:community rating. And they only looked at it for individuals employed by businesses with fewer than 100 employees: what’s called the “small group market.”

Here’s the background. Under Obamacare, all regulated insurance plans are required to charge people the same premium, regardless of health status. Insurers can charge different rates based on age (but only within a narrow range); tobacco use (smokers can be charged 50 percent more than non-smokers); geographic area (insurers can charge people different rates based on regional demographic variation); and whether the plan is for a single individual or a family.

 

Before these provisions went on-line on January 1, 2014, “firms with employees who had better than average health risks would typically pay lower premiums, and therefore, they were more likely to be the firms that offer health insurance. As a result, most of people with coverage in the small group market have premium rates that are below average.” CMS polled “several actuarial experts” who believe that 60 to 67 percent of small-group firms enjoyed below-average premiums in the pre-Obamacare market.

Because the remaining firms have above-average premiums, CMS simplistically assumed that 65 percent of these small-group firms will experience increased premiums, and 35 percent will experience decreased premiums. That amounts to 11 million and 6 million people, respectively.

Why CMS’ estimate is a lowball

But there are other costly requirements that CMS didn’t directly address. For example, Obamacare includes a silly excise tax on health insurance premiums that will get passed onto consumers in the form of higher prices. Same for its taxes on pharmaceuticals and medical devices. The law also requires that all plans cover a broad range of “essential” benefits, some of which they may not already. The law requires that employers cover “adult children” under the age of 26, which is a good deal for those with adult children, but an added cost for everyone else.

These were among the factors that led Delta Air Lines to estimate that it will spend $100 million more on health coverage in 2014 than it did in 2013. And Delta is a large employer, not a small employer; large employers should face relatively lower rate hikes than small ones.

Then, there’s the likelihood that some of the small employers facing steep premium hikes under the law will drop coverage altogether, and rely on Obamacare-subsidized exchanges instead. That form of adverse selection will increase the average cost of small-group health insurance. The companies most likely to do this? Those with a disproportionate number of younger and healthier employees.

One bit of “good” news. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996—known as “HIPAA” by health wonks and the “Patients’ Bill of Rights” by some—required that insurers make offers to anyone in the small-group market regardless of pre-existing conditions. So that part of Obamacare, at least, is redundant in this case, and won’t affect small-group premiums.

Rate hikes will come out in the second half of 2014

Most employers were smart, and renewed their pre-Obamacare policies before the end of 2013. That means that, at the time of renewal, they had twelve more months of premiums under the old system. (Some states banned this practice in order to accelerate the uptake of Obamacare-approved plans.) So we’re going to start seeing more of these stories—of premium spikes in the employer-sponsored market—starting in the second half of 2014, as those old plans roll over.

Total coincidence, but there’s a politically significant event happening in November of 2014.

 

7 Keys to Executing a Successful Business Rebrand

No matter your reason for embarking upon a business rebranding effort of a company or product name, logo, phrase, design scheme or other such asset, which can be mixed and many, one thing is certain: execute poorly and suffer extreme consequences. There is simply no rebranding effort where the stakes are not extraordinarily high and the margin for error is slim at best. This history has been proven repeatedly amid a litany of rebrand debacles that didn’t heed just a few fundamental principles.

With this in mind, globally regarded business growth consultant and keynote speaker Steve Blue, CEO of Miller Ingenuity—a 60-year old company that successfully implemented a corporate rebranding effort, offers these 7 best practice keys for effectively executing a rebranding initiative:

Key #1: Get clear on what a brand is. 

A brand is not just your logo. A brand is the sum total of the messages, interactions, and experiences a customer has with your product, services, and people. To a customer, a brand is the promise of an EXPERIENCE and the customer’s EXPERIENCE of that promise delivered. It’s a valuable asset to nurture over time.

Key #2: Maintain control of the rebranding process.

Use a third party guide because it is easy for a re-naming effort to deteriorate into likes/dislikes or what your spouse thinks. Ground your brand in a strategy that recognizes not only the brand’s origins but also its ultimate destination in the current and future marketplace. Keep an open mind. Small ideas can get bigger and seemingly big ideas can diminish over time. Also identify those equities that cannot change.

Key #3: Understand that a brand has two owners: the marketer owns 50%; the customer owns 100%.

Yes, that’s 150% in total. The marketer produces messages, products and services. Your customer experiences the brand, and in the digital age, they are in ultimate control of their messages they receive. Therefore, check in with customers and, at the very least, include those internal players who have the most customer contact. The worst thing you can do is to decide all branding issues at the top level and dictate it to customers and your troops who must deliver the brand experience.  You risk a loss of relevancy and buy-in.

Key #4: Your logo, tagline, typography and design should tell a single-minded story. 

Every brand is heroic in some way. Its look, feel, and message should tell one story. Think about what your brand fights for and against what odds. Consider what is at stake for customers in terms of their problems and how you solve those for them. By becoming a hero to your customers, you, in turn, make heroes out of them. That’s truly adding value.

Key #5: Never forget that a brand should always remain fluid.

Some will warn you that changing your brand is a major risk.  If it fails, it can be expensive and disruptive.  Note Coca Cola’s experience with “New Coke.”  However, if you do not violate a brand’s established equities and values, you can still add flexibility into a brand that allows it not to lose relevance.  For example, Tide Detergent is built on consumer’s trust that it gets clothes clean—yet the brand has found multiple fresh expressions of that proposition over the years, even adding benefits to fend off competitors. Therefore, create a brand positioning that is broad enough to be as relevant today as yesterday and flexible enough to be relevant in the future.

Key #6: Never stop supporting and promoting your brand

Successful brands are a living presence in the marketplace with a tangible relationship with its customers. It’s easy to support a brand in boom times, but much tougher in down times.  However, study after study has shown that brands that are consistently supported during a down cycle, gain greater sales and share when the economy turns up—over those who cut support activities.

Key #7:  Be a Brand Champion

Having gone through the discipline of crafting or refreshing your brand, appoint a key leader, typically in Marketing, to be a Brand Champion.  Set up brand guidelines and procedures to make sure the identity you have carefully created presents a consistent image and message in marketing communications from business cards to digital media, in sales presentations, in signage, at events and trade shows—wherever the customer will engage with your brand.

In summary, executing a rebrand must be extraordinarily strategic, not violate the company’s cultural roots, be relevant and consistently supported, and place the customer benefit front and center at all times.  It’s all about them.

~~~

With more than three decades of management, executive, consulting and speaking experience in markets all over the world, Miller Ingenuity CEO Steve Blue (www.StevenLBlue.com) is a globally regarded business growth authority who has transformed companies into industry giants and enthralled audiences with his dynamic keynotes. In his upcoming book, “Outdo, Outsmart… Outlast: A Practical Guide to Managed, Measured and Meaningful Growth,” he reveals why seeking growth and surviving growth are equally perilous, and require different sets of plans to weather the storms. Follow Steve @MillerIngenuity.